The Path Between the Seas
The Creation of the Panama Canal, 1870-1914
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Narrated by:
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Nelson Runger
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By:
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David McCullough
About this listen
Winner of the National Book Award for history, The Path Between the Seas tells the story of the men and women who fought against all odds to fulfill the 400-year-old dream of constructing an aquatic passageway between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. It is a story of astonishing engineering feats, tremendous medical accomplishments, political power plays, heroic successes, and tragic failures. McCullough expertly weaves the many strands of this momentous event into a captivating tale.
Like his masterful, Pulitzer Prize-winning biography John Adams, David McCullough's The Path Between the Seas has the sweep and vitality of a great novel. This audiobook is a must-listen for anyone interested in American history, international intrigue, and human drama.
©2001 David McCullough (P)2011 Simon & SchusterListeners also enjoyed...
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The demolition of Penn Station in 1963 destroyed not just a soaring neoclassical edifice, but also a building that commemorated one of the last century's great engineering feats: the construction of railroad tunnels into New York City. Now, in this gripping narrative, Jill Jonnes tells this fascinating story - a high-stakes drama that pitted the money and will of the nation's mightiest railroad against the corruption of Tammany Hall, the unruly forces of nature, and the machinations of labor agitators.
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A good tale of the times
- By Edouard on 02-08-08
By: Jill Jonnes
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The Race Underground
- Boston, New York, and the Incredible Rivalry That Built America's First Subway
- By: Doug Most
- Narrated by: John H. Mayer
- Length: 15 hrs and 26 mins
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In the late nineteenth century, as cities like Boston and New York grew larger, the streets became increasingly clogged with horse-drawn carts. When the great blizzard of 1888 brought New York City to a halt, a solution had to be found. Two brothers - Henry Melville Whitney of Boston and William Collins Whitney of New York City - pursued the dream of his city being the first American metropolis to have a subway and the great race was on.
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Informative Cobbled Telling of an Important Story
- By Lynn on 05-21-14
By: Doug Most
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Nothing Like It in the World
- The Men Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad 1863-1869
- By: Stephen E. Ambrose
- Narrated by: Jeffrey DeMunn
- Length: 15 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Nothing Like It in the World is the story of the men who built the transcontinental railroad. In Ambrose's hands, this enterprise comes to life. The U.S. government pitted two companies - the Union Pacific and the Central Pacific railroads - against each other in a race for funding, encouraging speed over caution. As its peak the work force approached the size of Civil War armies, with as many as 15,000 workers on each line. The surveyors, the men who picked the route, lived off buffalo, deer, and antelope.
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A tragic waste
- By Joshua Tretakoff on 04-11-03
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The President and the Assassin
- McKinley, Terror, and Empire at the Dawn of the American Century
- By: Scott Miller
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
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In 1901, as America tallied its gains from a period of unprecedented imperial expansion, an assassin's bullet shattered the nation's confidence. The shocking murder of President William McKinley threw into stark relief the emerging new world order of what would come to be known as the American Century.
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An Ideal History Book for the Audio Format
- By Nelson Alexander on 09-30-11
By: Scott Miller
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The Age of Gold
- The California Gold Rush and the New American Dream
- By: H.W. Brands
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 17 hrs and 54 mins
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When gold was discovered at Sutter's Mill on the American River, it completely transformed the territory of California. Hundreds of thousands of people sped to California by any means possible, and small cities sprung up to service their needs as they sought the precious metal. By 1850, California had become a state; it had also become a symbol of where the nation was going.
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Very Enjoyable
- By Claire on 01-15-04
By: H.W. Brands
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The Promise of the Grand Canyon
- John Wesley Powell's Perilous Journey and His Vision for the American West
- By: John F. Ross
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 13 hrs and 4 mins
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John Wesley Powell’s first descent of the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon in 1869 counts among the most dramatic chapters in American exploration history. When the Canyon spit out the surviving members of the expedition - starving, battered, and nearly naked - they had accomplished what others thought impossible and finished the exploration of continental America that Lewis and Clark had begun almost 70 years before.
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Parallels
- By Bruce McClenahan on 01-25-19
By: John F. Ross
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109 East Palace
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- By: Jennet Conant
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They were told as little as possible. Their orders were to go to Santa Fe, New Mexico, and report for work at a classified Manhattan Project site, a location so covert it was known to them only by the mysterious address: 109 East Palace.
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Great Listen
- By John H. Davis III on 10-22-05
By: Jennet Conant
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In The Canal Builders, Julie Greene reveals that this emphasis obscures a far more remarkable element of the canal's construction - the tens of thousands of workingmen and - women who traveled from around the world to build it. Drawing on research from around the globe, Greene explores the human dimensions of the Panama Canal story, revealing how it transformed perceptions of American empire at the dawn of the 20th century.
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Most people have heard of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, but while not as many have heard of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World, those who have are aware that the Panama Canal is considered one of them. In a world where few natural rivers carved out over eons of time have reached a length of more than 50 miles, the idea that a group of men could carve a canal of that length seemed impossible. In fact, many thought it could not be done.
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Nothing Like It in the World is the story of the men who built the transcontinental railroad. In Ambrose's hands, this enterprise comes to life. The U.S. government pitted two companies - the Union Pacific and the Central Pacific railroads - against each other in a race for funding, encouraging speed over caution. As its peak the work force approached the size of Civil War armies, with as many as 15,000 workers on each line. The surveyors, the men who picked the route, lived off buffalo, deer, and antelope.
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A tragic waste
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What listeners say about The Path Between the Seas
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- History Buff
- 07-09-13
An incredible Undertaking
This fascinating story suffers a bit from too much detail...yet I hesitate to suggest what could be left out. Nelson Runger did a great job of narration, but until I figured out that it needed to be listened to at 1.25 speed, he was making me crazy. I think this was the producer’s error, and not Runger’s. Now that I have finally finished, I am excited to be going to Panama next week!
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8 people found this helpful
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- Bruce
- 03-22-14
Outstanding Book and Historical
What made the experience of listening to The Path Between the Seas the most enjoyable?
The history of the Panama Canal is covered in this book and goes into great detail. I have been to the canal several times and had no idea of what went into building it. Gave me a much greater appreciation of the French roll and how the U. S. completed it. A very interesting read.
What about Nelson Runger’s performance did you like?
Nelson was great and easy to listen to. I had to finish this book and spent several long hours listening to his rendition.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall
- ritware
- 06-03-19
Very informative
This is a good read that enhances your knowledge of American history in regards to technology and innovation.
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- William
- 07-30-19
A story of engineering accomplishment made persona
The creation of the Panama Canal. I remember that from history class, but this book goes far beyond what I knew and makes it into a great story, not just a historical account. Before the Transcontinental Railway was completed in 1869, getting across America was a long and very dangerous journey. The quicker way was to take a ship to the Isthmus of Panama, then a part of Colombia, cross that by canoe and by foot, and then take another ship up to the US west coast. When the great California Gold Rush began in 1849, many prospectors did just that. So, a railroad was built (you could say, the first American transcontinental railroad) by Americans under a treaty with Colombia. Building the railroad was a very difficult engineering task, crossing swamps, through tropical forests, and crossing the continental divide. It was one of the most expensive railroads per mile of its day, and not just in terms of money. Thousands of lives were also lost, and no one will ever even know how many. But, it also became the most profitable railroad in the world at that time as well. In 1869, a French company completed the Suez Canal, considered a marvel at the time and greatly shortening the voyage between Europe and Asia. With that, the same engineer began to raise money to build a canal across the Isthmus of Panama. The Suez Canal was a sea level canal with no locks, and he was determined that the same thing could be done on Panama. An agreement with Colombia was reached, the Panama Railroad was purchased, and work started in 1881, however the task faced huge obstacles. There were venomous spiders, scorpions, and snakes and there were the two great killer diseases of the tropics, Yellow Fever and Malaria. By 1884, 200 workers were dying each day. Financial losses mounted and finally a financial scandal brought down the company in 1889. It’s estimated that at least 22,000 lives were lost, and the savings of 800,000 investors were gone. Due to the immense financial success of the Suez, many of these investors were not rich people, but middle class workers seeking a sure-fire investment. A second French company took over the project in 1894, but just to keep the agreement with Colombia in force and maintain equipment while they searched for a buyer. At the same time, the US was considering a canal, but they had been looking mostly at Nicaragua. But, with a start already on Panama and some surveys suggesting that, if the plans were changed to allow for locks, Panama might be the best option, and in 1902, Congress approved a plan. However, Colombia, at that time the most pro-American country in Latin America, was slow at coming to an agreement and US President Theodore Roosevelt was not known for his patience. Some Colombian troops on the isthmus were dissatisfied with their lot and saw an opportunity. With some backroom negotiations, they agreed to proclaim independence if the US would agree to back them and to prevent other Colombian forces from landing. With US gunboats blocking harbors the troops declared independence and the US quickly recognized the new nation of Panama. Within days an agreement was signed with representatives of the new country granting the US the rights to a 10 mile wide canal zone. The US purchased the French company’s assets and work started in 1904. Some had thought that the French were inept, but as work proceeded, the French efforts gained greater and greater respect. The soil was very unstable and at the Culebra cut kept collapsing, destroying months of work and eating up valuable equipment. Even as the canal was opened in 1914, they were working on clearing up another collapse and the canal has been closed at various times afterwards by landslides in the same place. But, what became clear early on was that the task was not just an engineering task. Solving the disease problem had to be done for the work to continue smoothly. An Alabamian, Dr. William C. Gorgas (and coincidentally, my engineering internship was at a steam power plant named for him) was given that task and worked under difficult conditions from the start. The idea that mosquitoes spread disease was still not accepted at that time, and Gorgas had to fight at every turn to keep a focus on mosquito eradication, putting window and door screens in the budget, get rid of standing water, and keep those who came down with either disease separate from other hospital patients. But, his work had success. Over the 10 years that the US worked on the canal, only about 5,000 lives were lost, and that includes lives lost by any cause. Within a few years, the instance of disease had dropped so low that families were encouraged to join their husbands in moving to Panama. The work in building the canal proceeded slowly at first, and changed directors several times. In 1907, Army Major George Washington Goethals was appointed, and he applied strict discipline in terms of the project, while loosening restrictions on the workers and, radical at that time, inviting any worker with any grievance to meet with him at a certain time each week. He focused on improving the lives of workers, while introducing a bit of competition by posting the progress of various teams on bulletin boards. The canal was opened in 1914, two years ahead of schedule. The author makes it extremely interesting, and tells personal stories. Completing the canal was truly a great accomplishment, though there are some parts of the stories that bring shame. The drawings and descriptions in American newspapers made it seem like all the workers were white Americans when in fact, the vast majority were blacks, mostly from Barbados and Jamaica. And, the housing and provisions for them were terrible so that, even looking at the statistics in proportion to the number of workers, the death rate for Blacks were many times that of the whites. The gunboat “diplomacy” that created the nation of Panama caused resentments of the Yanquis that continue today. McCullough doesn’t whitewash those problems, and in fact, covers them in great detail. An excellent book, and not only for engineers.
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- Renee Sullivan
- 01-27-21
Fantastic
One of the the best books I’ve ever read or listened to. McCullough captured a moment in time.
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- Keith W. Fridae
- 10-05-21
Comprehensive history on the canal
McCullough's research for minute detail breathes life into this century old endeavor. Some may find it tedious; I found it fascinating.
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- Connie
- 01-27-22
Great!!!!
Suspense, Drama and a couple of key deaths. You know the end, but you absolutely do not know the story.
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- roger grace
- 03-18-22
Most informative and interesting
exceptional...but a bit too long and too much what I consider unnecessary detailed...great narrator
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- JWfromAK
- 06-01-22
very interesting but a bit boring
McCullough did a masterful job on writing this book, very detailed throughout but seemed to run out of steam towards the end. the end seemed rushed whereas the first 3/4 was too much detail
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- Amazon Customer
- 03-28-20
Everything you’d ever want to know about it
This book is great! Detailed history of both the French and American involvement in the creation of the panama canal. Shares a lot about the political involvement, the Panamanian revolution, the deceit, the swindling, and quite a bit about the engineering and the common workers. When I tend to enjoy the most about this book is how the author really makes each individual come to life, rather than just explaining that this person did this, and that person did that, he tells about their history up to that point in their life, and it helps you see why they may have made some of the choices they have made with regards to the making of the Panama Canal. Why not 5 stars on the story? I suppose the only reason I can give away I would not have given it five stars is that there is not an option for 4 1/2 stars, because I would have enjoyed it more I had there been a little bit more detail about what happened worldwide after the canal has been built. About two hours is devoted to that portion of this subject, I suppose I would have been more curious on having even more details on the can also impact of the global economy. Overall it’s a great book from start to finish.
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